Gun laws inevitable

EDITOR: If you are a devoted gun owner who is frightened that the government will take your guns away, you should enter the sane debate on “gun safety.” If you believe that we are going to ignore the frequent killings of children and adults, you are deceiving yourself.

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President Obama has been too tolerant of the gun ownership. He, and Congress, will be pressured to act in response to wide public demand. We know, this will not immediately solve the problem, but that is no reason not to start some kind of serious gun control. It is coming. You can run out and buy all the guns you like now; the law permits it. At some point you will feel uncomfortable living next to neighbors who frown on gun ownership. They will be a little ahead of you, “more evolved,” as some of us say.

I learned this lesson as a schoolboy in the 1950s. Then our choice of weapon was a pea shooter. Anyone remember those? We had trouble controlling our urge, so we annoyed the teacher until the predictable point where she confiscated all the pea shooters. Any adult would have seen that coming. Of course we protested, but she would firmly point out that we had exceeded her limit of classroom disruption.

I know that sounds pretty harmless by today’s standard. It was an enduring life lesson. You are either part of the solution, or you are part of the problem. If you are a law-abiding gun owner, you have the responsibility to speak up. You need to tell the NRA to give up its nasty campaign to defend the indefensible. Tell your friends to seriously reflect on the responsibilities of gun ownership. The kind of heated talk we hear from the NRA and angry gun owners will end badly for them.

When more kids are mutilated, an armed teacher accidentally shoots a student, a neighbor has to tell that police he was certain the young man was reaching for a weapon, school guards are killed as a nut gains entry to the campus; then a public line will finally be drawn. It is inevitable. Even our sheriff would like to itch your gun finger.

Join the many concerned citizens. The last thing we want is your guns. What we would like is your serious ideas and your efforts to end the slaughter. We all have some kind of “mental issue.” You don’t want to be denied legal gun registration because your name appears on a list. You will not want to tell a therapist about your anger. Please, join us.